1st Symposium 2009

SATURDAY, 7 March 2009

09.15 – 09.45
Registration

09.45 – 10.00
Welcome & Introduction

• Leena Pasanen, YLE Fact & Culture, Finland
• Donata von Perfall, Discovery Campus, Germany

10.00 – 11.00
What Makes a Series?

• Richard Bradley, Lion TV, UK
• Olivier Mille, Artline Film, France

Is any collection of stories a series? What are the elements that make a series: continuity, subject, dramatic structure, repetition, format or style? What is the dramatic structure or narrative arch of a series? Do series have to keep the tension from the first episode to the last? Will adding the same graphics and music do the trick? Richard Bradley is the man behind the multi-award-winning documentary series African School (BBC) and he has successfully led several productions for BBC, Channel 4, Discovery and the History Channel.

Olivier Mille’s recent success story is a series that started as a one-off and then became an international coproduction and successful series titled Global Food (France 5). Today, Artline Films is continuing the global series and has developed a new series which puts together for the first time ARTE France, ARTE Germany and ARTE G.E.I.E. Let’s face it, the British and the French broadcasters are the hardest to convince. How did these gentlemen do it?

Moderator: Leena Pasanen

11.00 – 11.30
Coffee Break

11.30 – 12.30
Produce One, Get the Rest For free!
Introduction To EBU’s Documentary Series

• Lynne Polak, EBU, Switzerland

What kind of topics could work for all? How to keep the series together with many different production teams, budgets and cultures? EBU’s Collection Unit has a unique way of producing documentary series. A recent example is Taboo, produced in collaboration with the public service stations in Sweden, Israel, Portugal, Finland and Denmark. The series forms a representative example of the vertical cooperation model in TV production. Lynne Polak, programme manager at the EBU, talks about this little known jewel that independent producers are rarely aware of.

Moderator: Leena Pasanen

12.30 – 14.00
Lunch Break

14.00 – 15.30
Short and Sweet: Mini-Series

• Thomas Kufus, zero one film, Germany

How to pitch a documentary series and how much are the channels prepared to spend? Thomas Kufus is a producer, director and author of documentaries and docu-series. In the last 18 years, he produced high-standard cinema documentaries that won international awards, among these Black Box Germany by Andres Veiel for ARD and ARTE. Kufus produced several docu-series and live history formats such as Schwarzwaldhaus 1902 (Black Forest House 1902) and Abenteuer 1900 (Adventure 1900). His most recent work as a director was the successful 2005 ARD docu-series Unsere 50er Jahre (Our 50s). Thomas knows the German speaking audience inside out and will talk about the dos and don’ts of producing series.

Moderator: Leena Pasanen

15.30 – 16.00
Seriously on Series to be continued…
How to Use the Discussion Forum on reelisor.com

• Charlotte Meyer, Discovery Campus / reelisor, Germany

In the week following the Open Training Session, everyone is welcome to join the forum hosted by our cooperation partner The D-Word on www.reelisor.com to further discuss the topic on docu series. Andrew Buchanan, Christine Lubrano, Leena Pasanen and Stefano Tealdi will join the discussion on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Charlotte will briefly explain how to enter the realm of the online forum and which new features are in the pipeline for reelisor!

16.00 – 16.30
Coffee Break

16.30 – 18.30
Calling for Series. What Are the Major Players Looking for?

• Hans Robert Eisenhauer, ZDF/ARTE, Germany
• Ann Julienne, France
• Tom Koch, PBS International, USA
• Lisa Weinbrenn, Discovery Networks Europe, UK

When you are looking for the big investors in documentary series, you head for the English, French and German speaking broadcasters. But what are these players looking for and how does it work? Who decides on the series that will be produced? Who in the stations commission series? Are series coproduced between channels? Which independent companies are the broadcasters commissioning their series from? How are ideas for documentary series pitched? Is there any room for a filmmaker's personal style – or are series killing the creative documentaries?

Moderator: Leena Pasanen

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18:30
Bavarian Reception
Löwenbräukeller, Stiglmaierplatz
Discovery Campus invites you to the first round of beer!

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SUNDAY, 8 March 2009

10.00 – 11.30
Trust Me! Taking the First Step on the International Playground

• Thomas Wartmann, Filmquadrat.dok, Germany

How to establish a good reputation on the international market and not only receive funding for your single documentary but for a whole series? Thomas Wartmann is a director and producer from Munich who has good connections in Germany. However, for his documentary series Under the Spell of Horses he needed additional funding sources. How to attract other European countries and obtain MEDIA funding which Thomas was seeking for the very first time? A mission that seemed impossible in the beginning turned out to be a success story with 10 European partners, MEDIA support and three language versions.

Moderator: Stefano Tealdi

11.30 – 12.00
Coffee Break

12.00 – 13.30
Buying and Pre-Buying Series: What Are the Smaller Players Expecting

• Dr. Patrick Hörl, Autentic, Germany
• Christine Lubrano, IFC, USA
• Jan Ronca, Fox International Channels, Italy

Many channels mainly acquire series from the big players or commission low-budget series on domestic topics with domestic teams. But could a successful one-off coproduction lead to a documentary series? Can series be produced and coproduced internationally on the same principle as single documentaries? Can one get a commission for a documentary series with only one-offs in the company's track record?

Moderators: Leena Pasanen & Stefano Tealdi

13.30 – 15.00
Lunch Break

15.00 – 16.30
Formatted Series - Commissioned by Channels, Made by Producers, Watched by Viewers

• Andrew Buchanan, UK
• Ann Julienne, France

Andrew Buchanan and Ann Julienne examine the world of the long-running series and reveal how formats help both producer and broadcaster. They explain how to create a formatted series, and what makes a commissioning editor say yes. Andrew¹s career spans three decades, twenty series and over three hundred programmes, all international coproductions, so he'll tell what it's like to make programmes in industrial quantities. He will also talk about keeping quality high, managing large teams over long periods, and how a well-devised format can encourage creativity. In her 15 years as Head of Acquisitions & International Coproductions at France 5, Ann coproduced literally hundreds of hours. Many of these were wildlife series. Creating trust is important between broadcasters & producers. But that doesn't mean that there isn’t a first time.

Moderator: Stefano Tealdi

16.30 – 17.30
One For The Road: Enter Web Series

• Christine Lubrano, IFC, USA

With the support of all the participants, the session will explore the documentary series available, for free, on the world wide web. The participant suggesting the most hilarious web doc series will get a bottle of Prosecco!

Moderators: Stefano Tealdi & Leena Pasanen

17.30
Farewell

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Concept:
- Leena Pasanen, YLE Fact & Culture, Finland
- Stefano Tealdi, Stefilm, Italy